The Demon War
by Zonthas
Summary: 10 years after the Winter War, Aizen is back. Centered around two OC shinigamis. Contains violence and harsh language. Rating may change as the story progresses. Be aware as you read.
1. Death of an Arrancar

GrimmJow lay dying. His breathe came in ragged gasps. His body discarded on the sands of Hueco Mundo. Enemies and allies both forgot about him as the battle raged on. He tried to move but waves of pain forced him to remain still. He could hear the sounds of the fight not to far away.

_Shit!_ He thought. _I can't die here. I can't._ He started screaming in his own mind. _I CAN'T DIE HERE!! I AM THE STRONGEST!! I MUST PROVE IT!!_

"I WILL NOT DIE!" GrimmJow shouted out loud. He rolled over, despite the pain from the multitude of wounds he sustained. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "Kurosaki… I will get you. I will KILL YOU!!" With a primal roar GrimmJow stood up. He pushed his body to the limit and beyond. He turned towards the sounds of the fighting.

"Kurosaki… Ulquiorra… both will die by my hands, no one else's…" He took a step and his body gave out. GrimmJow fell back to the sand. He knew that it was useless. He would die here. There was no stopping that. GrimmJow closes his eyes and resigned himself to death.

_"Hmph! I thought you stronger than that."_ Grimmjow heard a voice both in his head and to his side. _"Are you really going to just lie down and die? You're just going to give up? That's not like you."_

"I know you," GrimmJow said weakly as he turned his head. Standing before him he saw his old form, an Adjuchas Menos-Grande in the shape of a panther. "You're me… at least I used to be you."

_"No GrimmJow,"_ the being said to him, walking closer. _"I am not you. Rather, I am not what you once were, yet I am a part of you."_

"You speak riddles," GrimmJow said angrily. "Enough of your babble. I haven't the time. Either tell me who you are or let me die in piece."

The Hollow shook itself in irritation. _"I should have known better. You're too thick headed."_ It walked over to where GrimmJow's sword was still stuck in the sand. _"This is who I am"_ it said gesturing to the blade.

GrimmJow's glare doubled as he started a retort back to the Hollow. Then realization dawned on him. "Pantera," he whispered.

_"You finally get it."_

"So how does this help me survive?" he asked. "My breath grows weaker. When I die, you go with me. So how am I to survive this ordeal to prove myself?"

_"You will not survive. You are dying, you know this. You cannot live through these wounds. And yet you can. You know what happens to Hollows when slain by a Zanpakuto?"_

"Of course I do," GrimmJow coughed up blood over the sand, "get to the point."

_"Your force of will kept you in control when you joined the Gillian. Your force of will can keep you in control when your spirit goes into Soul Society. Though you will not rematerialize there, there is still a way to live on."_

GrimmJow coughed again and more blood pooled below him. Despite that, he smiled. He knew exactly what Pantera meant. He took his last dying breaths and fainted. His body began splitting into spirit particles and flowing towards the dome over Hueco Mundo, towards Soul Society. Through this, GrimmJow still grinned.


	2. Ominous Thunder

I awoke with a start. Lightening flashed outside the window next to my cot. I looked around in a slight panic before I recognized where I was. I hadn't been there very long and still became disoriented when seeing the strange room. I was lying in my cot in the small barracks of the 3rd division of the Gotei 13. I saw the few other forms that stayed there as well. We were new recruits to the division, many having fallen in the Arrancar War, as it was now referred to as. Fresh out of the academy, none of us had enough money to purchase a small apartment of our own, so we stayed in the headquarters of the division.

I finished looking around and saw that nothing was out of place. My Zanpakuto sat next to my cot where I had put in when I went to sleep. Nothing seemed wrong. Another bolt of lightening cut across the sky and was immediately followed by a crash of thunder.

_Strange…_ I thought. _I've never known it to storm in Soul Society. Maybe the captain will know what's going on. I'll have to remember to ask him tomorrow._

I rolled over to go back to sleep when I saw another person awake.

"Ah, Sai," he said. "You couldn't sleep either?"

I recognized the voice as my friend Hashibara Mitaro. "No Mitaro-kun. I just woke up. I think it was the storm."

"This storm certainly is strange," Mitaro looked out the window. "Do you know why it would rain in Soul Society?"

"Not a clue," I told him. "I'm going to ask to captain about it tomorrow."

"That's a good idea. I'll be sure to remem-"

"Hashibara-kun, Tsumiato-kun," a voice from the other side of the room interrupted us. "Your constant chatter is keeping me awake. Go to sleep. Talk in the morning."

Both me and Mitaro immediately rolled over. It would not be a good idea to anger that third person. Akage Sanosuke's temper was legendary. If you didn't anger him he was the most amiable man you would ever meet. However, he was known to have sent people to the hospital when angry. I closed my eyes and tried to blot out the thunder as I drifted off to sleep. While I slept, I dreamt. It was a recurring dream that I had been having since I came to 3rd division.

I was standing in a desert, at least it looked like a desert. All I could see for miles was sand along with a few bent, dead trees and rocks. Sitting on a particularly large rock was a figure. From where I stood I couldn't see anything about it. As I started to walk closer to it, a fierce wind kicked up and blew sand everywhere, as it always had in the dream. I tried to fight my way through the sandstorm but was unable. I was blown backward and into the waking world.

I sat up in my cot again. This time it was morning. Both Sanosuke and Mitaro were awake and getting dressed. I stood and stretched. Looking out the window, I saw that it was still raining. I rubbed my eyes, trying to fully awaken myself and donned my shihakusho. I slipped my Zanpakuto into my belt and laced my waraji.

"Allright, let's go and meet with the squad," I said to the other two in the room.

"Geez Tsumiato-kun," Sanosuke grinned at me. "We were just waiting for you to wake your lazy ass up. Hashibara and I have been ready for nearly 15 minutes." He threw his arm around Mitaro's shoulders and leaned down with a drunk-like grin on his face. "You really need to set your internal clock better."

"Ahhh, Akage-san," Mitaro stammered. "Don't put so much weight on me. You're too heavy. We're gonna fall." I could see that the way Sanosuke had his weight on Mitaro was about to cause them both to topple.

Sanosuke stood up to his full height. He towered over both me and Mitaro by at least 5 inches. He through back his head and laughed loudly. His muscular body shaking with each guffaw. His long black hair was unkempt as always. He slapped Mitaro on the back good-naturedly and said, "Hashibara, you always crack me up. I wasn't gonna fall."

Mitaro recovered from the strong blow and straightened. He was just about my height, but slimmer. His arms were muscled but they weren't as pronounced. I had heard people term him wiry. His hair was light and he kept in short. He grabbed his Zanpakuto from his cot and looked at Sanosuke. "You may not have fallen, but I was going to. I'm nowhere near as strong as you, Akage-san. You were gonna push me over."

"Relax Hashibara," Sanosuke said with a laugh. "I know you. You're springy. Even if you had fallen you would have recovered without a problem." Sanosuke was probably right. Out of all the people I met, Mitaro was by far the best at acrobatics and staying on his feet, as long as he didn't have a muscle-head like Sanosuke on top of him. Mitaro shrugged and turned away to make-up his cot. He always had been very meticulous, even during our days at the academy.

I smirked at the banter between the two and turned to at least make my cot presentable to the captain. Suddenly I felt Sanosuke's arms around me and was lifted off the ground in a full-nelson hold. I struggled for a few moments, my feet kicking the air mere inches off the ground.

"Akage-san, put him down. It's not fair, your so much bigger than he is and you had surprise on him," Mitaro's voice came from behind us. I couldn't turn to look at him because of my position, but Sanosuke obliged and turned around. Despite his scolding of Sanosuke, Mitaro was struggling to keep from laughing my predicament. Seeing that he was enjoying the spectacle, Sanosuke shook me from side to side. I attempted to glare at Mitaro for not helping, but the look combined with me being shook was too much. He burst out laughing and doubled over on his cot.

The shaking stopped long enough for me to catch my breath. I stopped struggling and hooked my legs around Sanosuke's. I grabbed his neck with my hands and pressed down on a pressure point.

"Huh?" Sanosuke grunted in confusion as his strength gave out and I kicked his legs out from under him. He landed on his knees and I on my feet. The force of the impact forced him to release me and I tumbled forward. I quickly rose to my feet to see Sanosuke struggling to stand upright.

"Damn," he coughed as he regained his breath. "I forgot that you were an expert in Hakuda." He stood up and stepped toward me. He clapped my shoulder and laughed, "Well, now that we've all had a warm up let's get going." The three of us finished readying and left for the meeting room.

Mitaro, Sanosuke, and I ran to the large open area that served as the 3rd division's meeting room and training room. We took our positions at the back of the formation as Kira-fukutaicho entered the room.

Kira Izuru remained 3rd division vice captain after Aizen's betrayal. He survived the Arrancar War and for the last 10 years he kept the squad together, despite its low numbers. Three years ago a new captain was placed in 3rd division.

"Attention," Kira-fukutaicho yelled. "Abarai-taicho has an announcement."

The captain entered the room. His crimson hair tied back in his usual style. His facial tattoos remained visible through the scars he gained during the war. His Zanpakuto slung comfortably at his hip. Abarai Renji, captain of the 3rd squad, turned and addressed his subordinates. "Good morning," Abarai-taicho said. "As most of you know, Soul Society has rarely seen clouds, let alone rain. And yet for the past two days and storm has raged over the Sereitei. Yamamato-soutaicho has had the 12th division under Kurotsuchi-taicho researching this phenomenon. 12th division believes that it is the result of an imbalance in spirit particles between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the living world." The 3rd division members began whispering to one another about this fact. Abarai-taicho became irritated with the chatter going on in front of him. "HEY!" he yelled. The entire division became silent instantly and focused their attention on him. "That's better. As I was saying, an imbalance this large could be caused by only a few occurrences. Since there has been no major shift in power in Soul Society and the living world remains stable, we must assume that something is happening in Hueco Mundo."

I knew that everyone in the squad had the same question in mind, but no one wanted to ask it. Suddenly a voice called out, "Sir." I wasn't sure who spoke until I saw everyone staring at me. I swallowed and continued the question, not even realizing that I had called out first. "What would have happened in Hueco Mundo to cause such a shift in spirit particles?"

"No one is completely sure. Yamamato-soutaicho ordered a captain's meeting for today where we will discuss the possibilities. However, there was one thing that everyone agreed on, and this would be the worst possible scenario. Soul Society must be prepared. Aizen Sosuke, former captain of the 5th division of the Gotei 13, may be back to work."


	3. Shunpo Tag

The storm continued to rage throughout the day. Abarai-taicho left immediately after his announcement, not saying where he was going. Kira-fukutaicho continued the division meetings and distributed assignments. As new recruits, Mitaro and I were sent to the living world to search out plus-souls and perform the konso. Sanosuke was sent to a different city that us to patrol for minor Hollow incursions.

"Ehhhhh," I sighed. "There's no one here Mitaro. We should just head back to Soul Society and relax. Maybe we'll hear more news about what's going on in Hueco Mundo."

"Sai-_kun_," Mitaro said, emphasizing the title. Even though we had been friends for three years, he still insisted on proper use of names and titles. I rolled my eyes at his reminder of this. He continued, "We were ordered to patrol here until our replacements come. We can't abandon this place. What if a Hollow were to come and attack someone?"

"Oh come on," I looked at him, exasperated. "You know that Hollows only attack people with high reiatsu or souls. If you ask me-."

"Which no one did," Mitaro interrupted with a grin.

I glared at him. "As I was saying, if you ask me we are putting this place into more danger by being here. There's no one here that the Hollows would be interested in except for us. If one _does_ show up it'll be because we are here supposedly protecting this city from them."

"Sai-kun, we are here to do a job. We both know it's boring, but we can't do anything about it. If we do these jobs without complaint who knows, maybe we'll get to go Hollow hunting with Akage-san soon."

I sighed and looked out over the city we were stationed in. I closed my eyes and let my spiritual sense drift with the wind to see if I couldn't feel something out there. Suddenly I felt a sharp slap on my back. I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw Mitaro standing on a building across the street, grinning like an idiot.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked him.

"You said you were bored."

"So?"

"So, tag… you're It!" He laughed and darted away.

I stared after him for a moment and then smiled. Despite being duty bound, Mitaro knew how to make me laugh. I quickly took off after him. He had a good lead on me so it was tough going to catch up with him. I concentrated and focused my reiatsu. I flashed in and out of sight as I used shunpo to catch up to Mitaro. He looked behind me, still grinning. When he saw me using shunpo, his grin faded a little.

I stopped right in front of him. "Now you're It," I said as I reached out to tag him. Surprisingly, I missed him. He had contorted his body in mid-air and managed to dodge my hand by the barest of inches.

"Hahaha! Spoke to soon, didn't you Sai-kun," he grinned at me, his face nearly upside down. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to catch me."

I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, I'll get you," I told him as he started off again. I quickly caught him again and held out my hand. "Bakudo no Ichi, Sai!" Mitaro's lower body locked up as the kido caught hold.

Mitaro looked at me as I tagged him. "Hmmm, nice job… but isn't that spell supposed to paralyze the entire body?" he asked smugly. He closed his eyes and focused. He easily broke out of the weak spell. "Something more like this I believe. Bakudo no Ichi, SAI!" My arms and legs were suddenly held together by the power of his kido. "You seem to forget that kido was my best skill. You'll be stuck there for a few minutes, so I'll just tag you here," and he did so, "and then take a quick break."

Mitaro reclined in the air and watched me struggle to break his spell.

"Damn it, Mitaro. You win; now let me out of here!" I yelled at him. My skills in kido were pretty bad and I was having trouble breaking the spell.

"Nah, I'm having fun. I'll just let you-," he stopped mid-sentence and looked across the city. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I asked.

"I could've sworn I heard a Hollow."

Then the air was split by the familiar roar of a Hollow.

"Ok, now I did hear it," I told him. "Let me go and we'll go find it."

He released me from the spell and we both took off into the night. If we didn't find the Hollow fast enough, it could cause huge amounts of damage and then retreat back to Hueco Mundo.

"Mitaro, can you figure out where it is?" I asked in a low voice.

"Hold on just a second," he replied. He suddenly looked into the air above me and yelled, "Watch out!" He yanked the front of my clothes and pulled me forward just into to dodge a gigantic claw. I looked up towards the source of the attack and saw an enormous Hollow. The Hollow was rust colored and in a scorpion like shape. It pulled back the claw it had tried to grab me with and launched its tail down toward us. We dodged to the side and managed to avoid being struck. The Hollow roared in anger and readied another attack.

Mitaro and I both drew our swords and took the fight to it. Despite its huge size, the Hollow was still amazingly quick and blocked our attacks with its claws while countering with its tail. We backed off a little in order to regroup and catch our breath.

"This isn't working. I'm going to distract it a little. You get behind it and kill it quickly," I instructed him.

"Sai," he was breathing heavily. "I'm nowhere near as fast as your are, you should get behind it to take it by surprise. I'll hit it with kido to keep it occupied."

"I may be faster, but you're better with your sword. I don't know if I'll be able to take him down."

Suddenly the Hollow was on us again. We were both fighting for our lives as the monster attacked us with claw and tail, roaring all the while.

"Go Mitaro!" I shouted.

He looked at me for a split second as if he was going to object again. He thought better of it and hardened his face. He continued fighting for another few seconds then disappeared. With only one target now, the Hollow turned its full attention on me. I blocked its attacks when I could and used my speed to dodge when I couldn't. I could feel myself being worn down. It was only a matter of time before I couldn't keep up and would fall.

_Hurry Mitaro,_ I thought._ I'm almost done here._

Suddenly the Hollow roared in pain. It backed off and started thrashing about. I could see Mitaro standing on its back. He had slashed from above and struck the Hollow just behind the mask. He jumped off right as the tail came swinging at him. He landed beside me looking as exhausted as I was.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't get through his skin," he panted.

"Then what are we gonna do?" I asked him between breaths.

"I have one more trick, but it's going to drain me. If it doesn't work, I'm as good as dead, but I have to try. Soul Society won't get here in time."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked.

"Just stand back. Contact Soul Society and inform them we have a Huge class Hollow. If this doesn't work at least they'll know. Then just try to stay alive until reinforcements come."

I nodded and backed off. I sent off a Hell Butterfly with our location and the information and watched as Mitaro began his work. The Hollow was still thrashing in pain, but was begging to recover. Mitaro held his sword at his side, the flat of it resting on his sheath. As the Hollow fully recovered, Mitaro quickly pulled his to in front of him, the length of the blade scraping against his sheath.

"Scorch, Mugenjin!" he shouted defiantly. A small inferno burst around his sword. Almost instantly it was gone and Mitaro's sword had changed. His sword was still a katana, and it didn't look very different. Though from where I stood I could feel that there was a subtle variation in the way his reiatsu flowed through it.

_So that's his Zanpakuto's release,_ I thought in wonder. Immediately after that I thought, _When did he learn his Zanpakuto's name?_

The Hollow charged Mitaro, roaring in pain and rage. Mitaro calmly stared at the incoming beast. At the last second, he leapt out the way. He slashed the hollow along the back and cut deeply into it. A strangled cry erupted from the Hollow as it turned to face Mitaro again. Mitaro only grinned. The Hollow, having abandoned all forms of strategy in its pain, flew headlong at Mitaro. Mitaro met the Hollow with a downward slash. Just before they collided, I could feel a spike in the reiatsu from Mitaro. He cried out, "Homura Dama!" and his sword burst into flames. His Zanpakuto cleaved through the Hollow's claws and deep into its mask. It shuddered to a stop and disappeared. Mitaro sighed and fainted.

"Mitaro!" I called and shunpo-ed below him. I caught him before he fell too far. "Mitaro, you idiot. Nice job," I whispered to his unconscious form.

I let him rest on a rooftop and waited until reinforcements from our squad came. Izuru-fukutaicho came to stand in front of me.

"Where is the Hollow?" he asked me looking around.

I smiled weakly and gestured to the prostrate form of Mitaro on the ground. "This guy here took it out. We weren't sure it was going to work, so he had me call for you just in case. Of course, it took too much out of him and he fainted as soon as the fight was over."

"This guy…?" Kira-fukutaicho said, stunned. "A new recruit, nearly fresh from the academy, took out a Huge class Hollow…"

"We'll give you a full report later, Fukutaicho, but Mitaro-kun needs to get back and rest," I said, hoping that my friend would be okay.

"Of course," he told me. He gestured to one of the shinigami that had come with him. "You take over for these two, and let me know immediately if something else happens."

"Yes sir!" the shinigami responded.

Kira-fukutaicho and the other shinigami helped me up and carried Mitaro back through the gate. I looked over at my friend's body and wondered when he became so strong.


	4. Debriefing

I stayed with Mitaro while he slept. I even fell asleep once or twice. When I dreamt, I had the same dream I always had. The man on the rock in the sea of sand. Even though I couldn't see him, I could tell he was smiling a mocking smile. I knew that he snickered at my feeble attempts to get through the sandstorm. I still tried, futile as ever, but I knew that if I could make it to him I would understand what this dream was about. I walked through the sand again. I even tried to shunpo closer, but that didn't help. This time as I moved, the sand became wet. It got wetter as I moved and soon I was slogging through mud. The more I moved, the more I sank until soon I was completely submerged. Again, I woke up with a start.

Mitaro was sitting up in his bed. Both of us had had our wounds treated when we got back to Soul Society, but Mitaro had remained unconscious. I cleared my eyes and went to stand next to him.

"How are you feeling, Mitaro-kun?" I asked him.

He looked up at me and smiled weakly. "I feel like I've been hit in the head by Akage-san, but I think I'll recover sooner from this than if he really did hit me." We both laughed at his jest. I knew he'd be ok if he could make jokes like that.

He swung his legs off of the bed and stood up.

"Oy, Mitaro, do you think you should be up and moving already?" I asked with concern.

"Relax, it was just a case of overused reiastu. The sleep restored much of what I had used up. I'm fine now," he reassured me.

We walked out of the barracks to find half of our squad waiting for us. Everyong immediately bombarded us with questions about what happened.

"Is it true you guys fought off a hollow?"

"Was it really a Huge class?"

"How did you do it?"

"I heard those things are supposed to be super strong, and you two are just out of the academy?"

A voice shouted over everyone else's, "Hashibara Mitaro! Tsumiato Sai! Please come here!"

We looked at each other and stepped through the crowd. Kira-fukutaicho was standing near the door waiting for us.

"Yes sir?" we both said.

"The captain wants to talk to you about what happened. Come with me." He turned and left. Mitaro and I hurried after and followed him to the captain's office. Abarai-taicho was sitting behind his desk, hands steepled, deep in thought. At least it appeared that way. As we drew close, we could hear deep, rhythmic breathing and a slight snore. The captain was asleep.

"Excuse me Abarai-taicho," Kira-fukutaicho said softly, taking care not to surprise the captain. He took a cautious step around the desk and gently shook Abarai-taicho. The captain awoke with a snort and shook himself fully awake.

"What is it, Kira?" he asked, looking at his vice-captain.

"Sir, Hashibara Mitaro-san and Tsumiato Sai-san are here at your request," Kira-fukutaicho told him.

Abarai-taicho turned and looked at us appraisingly. We both shrunk back slightly at being scrutinized by the captain. Neither of us had ever been this close to a captain, let alone about to address one directly. He turned back to Kira-fukutaicho and said, "Very good. You are dismissed. I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting discussion."

"Yes, Abarai-taicho," the vice-captain said, bowing.

"Oy, oy. What have I said about that," the captain grumbled. "I hate that –taicho thing. Use –san." He lowered his voice and continued grumbling, "I hate –taicho."

Kira-fukutaicho smiled slightly and bowed again. He then slipped out the door and left us alone with the captain.

Abarai-taicho stood up and walked around the desk. He came right up to us and looked us both in the eyes. He was slightly taller than us and had to bend slightly. We looked back at him, not sure what to say, or even if we were supposed to say anything at all.

The captain suddenly turned away and walked back to his desk. He sat down and leaned forward. "Now, tell me what this is about."

Mitaro and I both started talking at once. Abarai-taicho held up his hands and gestured for us to stop and calm down. Mitaro and I looked at each other. He gestured that I tell the story. I swallowed and stepped forward, suddenly realizing that I alone would be talking to the captain of our division.

"Mitaro-kun and I were in the living world, searching for Plus souls to perform the Konso on. We hadn't found any so we got a little bored," I stuttered here, not sure whether or not to tell about our game. I decided not to leave anything out. "Mitaro and I started playing a game of tag. It ended when we felt the presence of a Hollow." I saw the captain's eyes smile when I mentioned the game, but his face darkened when I mentioned the Hollow. He motioned for me to continue. "We searched for the Hollow and found it when it attacked me. With no time to react, we were engaged in a fight. We had an opportunity to catch our breath and we determined to take it by surprise. When it charged again, Mitaro used shunpo to get above it. Without Mitaro there, it turned its full attack on me. Mitaro attacked it, but couldn't do anything more than cause it a little pain and a lot of irritation. Again, the Hollow backed off. This was the time that we called for help. Mitaro said that he had a plan, but if it didn't work he would be dead. Following his instructions I stayed back and sent a message to Kira-fukutaicho as Mitaro went into the fight."

"You stayed back as your comrade, a fellow new recruit like you, went to face a Huge class Hollow alone?" Abarai-taicho's voice grew angry. "What were you thinking?"

I stood straight up at his words. "Sir, I had no intention of leaving him alone. As soon as I had sent the message I was planning on attacking again. However Mitaro had already beaten the Hollow by then. He had released his zanpakuto and slain the Hollow before I had a chance to react."

Abarai-taicho's face changed from anger to shock as I finished. He looked from me to Mitaro and asked, "Is all this true?"

"Yes sir," Mitaro stammered, still uneasy at being addressed directly by a captain. "Everything happened as Tsumiato-kun has said."

"That is very impressive," the captain told him. "I've never known a new recruit to be able to defeat a Huge class Hollow."

"Sir," I spoke up again. "In our time at the academy Mitaro was regarded as a genius among the students. I'm not sure how the faculty saw him, but our peers always knew he was strong."

"A genius, eh?" Abarai-taicho looked at Mitaro. "If you were seen as a genius, why weren't you accelerated through the academy?"

Mitaro looked down at his feet and mumbled something.

"What was that?" The captain stepped directly in front of Mitaro and bent down to look him in the eye. "You should look your captain in the eyes when you speak to him. And speak clearly."

Mitaro looked up immediately. "I denied being accelerated."

"Oh? And why is that? I thought it was the dream of every student to become a full fledged shinigami."

"By the time the academy staff realized that I was so skilled, I had already become friends with many people. I wanted those friendships to remain. I wanted to help my friends through it. Most of all, I was afraid that if I graduated so much sooner than the others, our chances of getting placed into the same squad was diminished." Mitaro looked directly at Abarai-taicho as he spoke. After a moments pause he hastily added, "Sir!"

The captain looked thoughtfully at Mitaro. Suddenly he turned and walked to a bookshelf and studied some of the books. Without turning around he said, "You two are dismissed. You are excused from duties today. I'll inform Kira. Get some rest. You've earned it."

"Yes sir!" Mitaro and I both said. With a bow we turned and left the captain's office.


	5. A Cause for Celebration

A week after our encounter with the Hollow, everyone finally stopped bugging us to retell the story again. The storm had subsided in that time. It was no longer raining, but clouds still hung over the entirety of Soul Society. Mitaro and I had been put back on our normal duties. We patrolled both Soul Society and the human world, looking for Hollow incursions, lost souls needing the Konso, and looking for any other sign of what might have caused such a tremendous spiritual imbalance. On the morning of the eighth day after the battle, Kira-fukutaicho entered the assembly hall of the 3rd division barracks and called for order.

"Attention, 3rd division members. The captain has an announcement to make to you!"

Abarai-taicho entered the room. His white captain's haori billowing as he walked. Everyone knew instantly that it was important. The captain only wore his haori when meeting with other captains or when there was an extremely important matter. The entire division hushed immediately when he entered.

Turning toward us he began his announcement. "As many of you know, I chose to leave many of the officer's seats empty in this division. We lost many comrades during the war. Of the 20 seats, only 10 of them are currently filled. In light of recent events, I have the following announcement to make. For extraordinary valor in the face of the enemy and uncommon strength in a new recruit, I, as captain of the 3rd division, promote Hashibara Mitaro to the 11th seat officer position."

The entire division was shocked at this announcement and showed it on their faces, though none were most surprised than Mitaro himself.

"Hashibara Mitaro, please come forward," Abarai-taicho said.

Mitaro didn't move, still stuck on the fact that he was promoted. I gave him a small shove to snap him out of it. He shook his head and looked at me.

"You're supposed to go up to the front to Abarai-taicho."

He slowly looked around the room and noticed that everyone was staring at him, those close enough to hear us had grins on their faces. Mitaro's face turned red as he bowed his head and moved quickly to the front of the room.

"Hashibara Mitaro," Abarai-taicho stated formally. "Do you accept the position of the 11th seat officer of the 3rd division of the Gotei 13 with the responsibilities that come with it?"

Mitaro stared at the captain for a few moments, still not sure that this was really happening. He blinked rapidly and I noticed that he stepped lightly on his own foot, an old habit of his from the academy. When he accepted that this wasn't a dream, he finally responded.

"Yes, sir," Mitaro stammered over the words. "I accept the position."

The entire division let up a cheer of congratulations for Mitaro and Abarai-taicho gave Mitaro a small smile. Kira-fukutaicho, after the commotion had died down, led Mitaro out of the room to give him a thorough briefing of his new assignments as an officer. I could see that Mitaro visibly paled now that the fact he was an officer finally hit him. I laughed silently as he walked out of the room with Kira-fukutaicho and Abarai-taicho. The rest of the division returned to its normal activities, still chatting about the promotion and the possibility of there being more in the future. I chose to go to my bunk and relax.

I entered the sleeping area of the division barracks and saw that I wasn't the only one who had that idea. Sanosuke was already in his cot, or more likely still in his cot, sleeping the day away. I smirked deviously and crept up next to his bed. He did not stir as I got to the head of his bed and stopped mere inches from him. I waved my hand over his face to make sure he was really out. He did not respond. I grinned more and silently grabbed a jug of water. As I moved back toward his bed he snorted and shifted. I froze mid-step, turning so it seemed like I was going back to my cot in case he woke up. When he didn't rise, I continued sneaking over to him. I returned to my position at his head and giggled silently. I took a deep breath.

"Wake up, Sanosuke-kun!" I shouted as I overturned the jug. He awoke with a start just in time to get hit in the face with the water. I laughed as he struggled to get out of bed.

"Tsumiato!" he bellowed. "I'm gonna kill you. You know that right?"

He charged at me blindly, still wiping his face. I continued laughing at him as I easily dodged to the side. He stopped and turned, his face and chest still dripping. The enraged look on his face was enough to cause the bravest man to take a step back, but the water dripping from it made it comical in a way.

"Before you kill me, you might want to hear my news," I told him, still laughing. "While you were sleeping, Mitaro was promoted to the 11th seat officer position."

The look of rage changed to one of surprise as Sanosuke stopped trying to kill me.

"Really?" he asked. "Hashibara got promoted?"

"Yea, I thought you should know. Just in case you wanted to congratulate him or something."

"Well where did he go? We need to go out celebrating!" Sanosuke relished any opportunity to go out drinking, often making up reasons just so he could have a glass.

"He just left with the captain and lieutenant, though he should be back later."

At that moment the door opened and Mitaro walked through. Shutting the door behind him he sighed and sat down on his bed.

I jumped to attention. "11th seat, Hashibara Mitaro, sir! Hello!" I gave an exaggerated salute as I stood up perfectly straight.

Sanosuke followed along. "Sir! To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, 11th seat, Hashibara Mitaro-San?"

Mitaro looked at us wearily. "Ahh, don't do that guys. Seriously, you can relax around me."

"No sir! We would never show that lack of respect to an officer of our division," Sanosuke responded, still standing straight at attention. The look on Mitaro's face was too much for me and I burst out laughing. Sanosuke followed in suit shortly after.

"Akage-san, Tsumiato-kun, why do you guys always make fun of me?" Mitaro asked, his voice sounded extremely tired.

I took a few deep breaths and calmed down my laughter. "Mitaro, you're one of us. We're your friends. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't give each other grief once in a while?"

Mitaro looked at me. I could tell he wanted to tell us to stop teasing him, but he grinned and laughed along with us at our antics. Sanosuke and I went over and gave him our congratulations. That's when Sanosuke said what both me and Mitaro knew was coming.

"There's only one way to celebrate…" he paused dramatically. "Let's go get drunk!" He let loose a laugh that suggested he may already have been halfway there.

"Akage-san, we can't get drunk yet. It's hardly midday," Mitaro told him. "We still have work to do."

"Mitaro is right, Sanosuke," I said. Sanosuke look crestfallen. I grinned at him and said, "Don't worry. We'll go tonight." Looking over at Mitaro I continued, "And we won't take no for an answer." Sanosuke grinned at Mitaro as well.

"Well alright," he agreed. "Let's get going before the lieutenant chews us out for being late."

Sanosuke and I started to leave when Mitaro started to speak. "Actually, that's why I came back here. Kira-fukutaicho told me to start my own squad in the division. Apparently every officer has to have one. I'll be giving out the assignments to my squad."

"So, what does that have to do with us?" Sanosuke asked, oblivious to the obvious.

"You dunce, it means that Mitaro chose us to be in his squad," I told him, slapping the back of his head. "That means that we have to report to him each day to find out our assignments."

"Yes, that's right," Mitaro said, looking at me. "And I have your assignments here." He pulled out a piece of paper from inside his shihakusho. "Karakura Town and the surrounding area have been seeing increased Hollow activity recently," he read. "The three of us are assigned to go there and stop these incursions."

"Karakura Town?" I asked. "That sounds familiar. Why does that sound familiar?"

"Probably because that's where Kurosaki Ichigo lives, or lived 10 years ago," Sanosuke told me. I felt something akin to a shudder pass through my body when the name Kurosaki Ichigo was mentioned. It almost felt like I was excited, anxious even, to get down there and see him. I didn't know why.

"Precisely," Mitaro said. "From reports he still lives there."

"If he still lives there, why do we have to go down and fight Hollows," I asked, trying to suppress the weird feeling. "Isn't he supposed to super powerful or something?"

"He is still living, Sai-kun," Mitaro answered. "His job takes up most of his time. His job and his family."

I nodded in understanding. "So when do we leave?"

"Immediately," Mitaro told me. Sanosuke and I both smiled and grabbed our Zanpakuto and the three of us ran out of the barracks and to the gate to the real world.


	6. Old Faces, New Faces

"Hyaaaah!" I leapt at a Hollow and cleaved its mask down the center. It disappeared and I jumped back to land next to Sanosuke and Mitaro. All three of us stood panting from the long day of Hollow slaying.

"Is there no end to these things?" Sanosuke asked wearily.

"Sanosuke, I thought you would be happy. You love fighting," I joked.

"Even I have my limits," he told me. "After a while, slaying these weaklings just gets boring."

As if on cue, our spirit phones all rang simultaneously.

"Guys, I'm getting three more large groups of Hollows appearing in different parts of the city. We need to go and we need to go now," Mitaro said, stepping between us. "We'll have to split up. It's the only way to take care of them before someone gets hurt."

We nodded and ran off in three different directions. My route took me over the roofs of the residential portion of the city. In the distance I saw a mass of Hollows materialize in the sky and dive towards the ground. I used shunpo to close the distance and land just in time to intercept the Hollows as they attacked.

The Hollows in the front of the pack howled in rage as I interrupted their meal and the ones behind roared in pain as they stupidly slammed into their comrades. I quickly dispatched the first few Hollows and readied myself for their next attack. I heard footsteps quickly retreating behind me.

_Good_, I thought. _At least the innocent is out of danger._

A cry from the group of Hollows in front of me brought me back to the battle. They charged me at once, trying to get passed my defense. I blocked and dodged as much as I could. I avoided most of the blows while dispatching the Hollows that attacked. Suddenly I felt a burning pain in my back. A Hollow had raked down my back with its giant claws. I screamed as I fell to the pavement. The Hollows sensing my end closed in.

"Koten Zanshun! I reject!" a feminine voice yelled from behind me. The Hollows in front of me disintegrated in a flash of light. I tried to look behind me to see who saved my life, but my wound flared in pain and I passed out.

I opened my eyes to find myself back in the desert.

"Not again," I groaned.

I saw the familiar figure sitting in obscurity, mocking me with his gaze. I started towards him, as I always did. The wind kicked up again, knocking me backwards. Instead of fighting against it, I merely stopped moving and let the wind blow. Soon it died down and I could move forward again.

I took a few steps and felt the sand soften beneath my feet. I leapt into the air to avoid being dragged under. I saw the ground turn to almost pure liquid beneath me. I watch the ground solidify as I descended and landed. I stood and stared defiantly at whoever was constantly watching me and started moving again.

The large cat again came from behind him and jumped at me. I quickly dodged to the side and kicked it out of my way. It tumbled over and over and slid to a stop. It didn't get up again. I turned back towards my goal and saw the person had disappeared. I heard the familiar sound of a sword being drawn above me. Not thinking I drew my sword and blocked a strike aimed at my head. I looked up and discovered the man was attacking me. I was startle to note that even at this distance I discern anything of what he looked like. I couldn't see any of his features except for his mocking eyes and sneering grin. He kept himself hidden from me.

He increased the pressure on my blade and bore me down to my knees. With a grunt of effort, I shoved upward and threw him off me. He landed lightly some 15 feet away.

"Very good," he said. "You're almost ready." With that he turned and went back to his rock, seemingly waiting for something.

"What?" I asked. "Ready for what? Who are you?"

He just stared at me. I realized my vision of him was growing dim as I watched. I fell back down the sand and blacked out.

When I woke, I wasn't sure how much time had passed. I opened my eyes and saw a world tinted yellow. I tried to sit up but the pain in my back kept me on the ground. I groaned and lay back down. The pain quickly faded.

"You should stay lying down for a few more minutes," I heard a voice from near my head. It sounded like the same voice I had heard before I passed out. "The wound on you back was really deep, so it's taking longer than normal to heal."

"What happened?" I asked.

"You came to save me from the Hollows that attacked. I couldn't believe how brave you were."

"But you came back," I said. "Why?"

"To help, of course. You coming to help me allowed me to get my baby to safety. I couldn't just let you die. And even if you didn't save me, I couldn't let someone be in pain."

"Who are you?" I asked.

The yellowness of the world disappeared and everything reverted to its normal color. Slowly I sat up, finding to my amazement that I had no pain in my back, and turned around. I looked at one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Her orange-brown hair cascaded down to her lower back. She leaned toward me, her full, attractive figure filling out the sweater she was wearing. She smiled at me and offered me a hand up.

"My name is Inoue Orihime," she told me.

"I-I-Inoue Orihime!" I exclaimed. "I am so very honored to meet you. We are taught all about your successes during the Arrancar war. Yours and all your friends. Thank you for helping Inoue-san."

"It's not a problem, honest," she said, holding up her hands. "You saved me and I was just repaying the favor." She stopped suddenly and hit herself in the head. "I did it again."

"What did you do?"

"I told another person my name wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"My name is not Inoue Orihime. Well it used to be, but it changed recently and I still haven't gotten used to saying my new one. My name is now Kurosaki Orihime."

**Author's Notes:**

**Hey to all my loyal readers, however few I have. A few quick things.**

**Yes, now you know my horrible, horrible secret. I am an Ichi-Hime fan. I apologize to all you Ichi-Ruki fans out there. Please, don't hate me. ;)**

**I hope you're enjoying the story. Please, if you are, pass the word on to others. Hell, even if you aren't tell them to read my story anyway.**

**I'm trying to keep a constant weekly update on Mondays. So far I've been able to churn out a chapter a week, so it is looking good. That's all for now, sports fans. I'll check in on you again in a few weeks with some other stuff.**


	7. Return of a Hero

"Kurosaki?" I asked. "So that means you married Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Orihime smiled and nodded. "Yup, that's right."

I stared at her agape. I had heard of the accomplishments of the humans during the Arrancar War, but I had never imagined that I would meet any of them. I wanted to ask her if she would introduce me but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Orihime looked at me with a confused expression. Her face brightened suddenly when she said, "Do you want to see my baby?"

"Um… sure," I replied.

Orihime grinned, clapped her hands giddily and grabbed my hand. "Follow me," she said and dragged me down the street. We rounded a corner and found a baby carriage with three miniature people floating above it.

"Orihime," one squeaked. "Thank goodness you're allright!"

"Oh Lily, I was never in any danger," Orihime hugged the fairy. "Tsubaki was with me, and I had to save the brave soul who risked his life to help me."

A fourth fairy popped up in front of me. He was in a pure black body suit and his mouth and nose was covered with a bandana.

"Look you," he pointed at me, or rather at my nose. "She's finally fighting for herself, don't you start teaching her to be helpless again!"

I held up my hands to him, probably looking rather foolish. A fifth and sixth came to my rescue and pulled him away.

"Tsubaki, calm down. He was only trying to help Orihime!"

"Guys, you can go rest now," Orihime told them. Five of the six smiled at me before they disappeared, Tsubaki continued to glare for a second longer, then he too vanished. The six of them became pieces of Orihime's hairpins.

She walked over to the baby carriage and steered it over to me. Laying inside was a baby, eyes wide taking in all the sites of the world. His eyes locked on me and he grinned.

"This is my baby," Orihime told me lifting the child into her arms. "His name is Sora, named after my brother. Sora-chan, this is the brave shinigami that saved us."

"Shi-ami!" the baby squeaked with a laugh. "Shi-ami! Shi-ami!"

I smiled at the site of the young child bouncing in his mother's arms, grinning madly at the stranger in front of him.

"Do you want to hold him?" Orihime asked me.

"Oh no," I held my hands up and backed away. "I don't think so."

"But he wants to give you a hug," she said, holding Sora out to me, his arms held wide open. "Give him a hug…" She stopped and put Sora back into his carriage. "Um… I actually don't know your name, do I?" She flushed in embarrassment and looked down.

"Ah, my name is Tsumiato Sai. I am part of the 3rd division of the Gotei 13. I am here with my squad to defeat the Hollows that have been attacking recently."

"I'll be Ichigo would love to help you," Orihime said suddenly. "He always was ready to fight back in the day."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me along, pushing her baby's carriage with the other arm, completely oblivious to my protests. I sighed and followed her down the road.

She stopped next to a row of tall bushes and we heard two voices, arguing loudly. One of them sounded like my captains.

"I'm not doing it, Renji!" the strange voice shouted.

"That's Ichigo!" Orihime exclaimed. I felt the same shiver I had earlier when Mitaro had mentioned that name. I noticed Orihime moving forward. I grabbed her shoulder and shook my head. I didn't want to interrupt important business that the captain had with the hero of the war.

"Ichigo, we need you," Abarai-taicho's voice rang clearly through the bushes. "If Aizen is truly back, which the 12th division believes, then we'll need all the strength we can muster to stop him."

"I told the other captains that once the war was over, I was done," Ichigo told him. "We lost too many friends that we can't get back. I just want to settle down with the ones I love now and live a normal life."

"Do you honestly believe that you can just live a normal life? You are the most powerful spiritual force on Earth. Any incursions will be centered on you. You and the ones you love. You must understand that. You know that there has-"

"There hasn't been an attack on me, Renji. I haven't even sensed a Hollow since the war ended. I'm done with you, all of you, until I die and someone has to come get me."

"You idiot!" Abarai-taicho shouted, now getting riled up. "There are hundreds of Hollows invading this city right now. I've got half my division out there stopping them from harming anyone because you don't want anything to do with Shinigamis or being a shinigami."

There was a long pause in their arguing. I chanced a peek through the leaves and saw that they were standing there, glaring at each other. Finally, Abarai-taicho sighed and dropped his head.

"Fine, Ichigo. It's your decision after all. Just know that you can't run away from this, it is who you are. It's in your blood. And know that just because you don't want anything to do with us, that doesn't mean the rest of your family doesn't. Take your beautiful wife for example." Abarai-taicho raised his voice here. "Isn't that right Tsumiato-kun?"

I jumped straight up and moved out from behind the bushes. Orihime followed close behind me, grinning sheepishly.

"Sir, I apologize for eavesdropping!" I saluted him and Ichigo. "I was escorting Kurosaki Orihime back home when we heard you and Kurosaki Ichigo-sama arguing. I felt it was prudent to wait until you were finished."

"Yea, that and you wanted to hear what was going on," Abarai-taicho replied with a smile. I felt my face flush and started to say something, but the captain cut me off. "It's ok Tsumiato. I know what its like to be curious. Now come here and tell me what's going on."

I relayed the information that Sanosuke, Mitaro, and I had come across while battling the Hollows. I told him about how we separated to better cover ground. I even told him how Orihime saved me from being eaten. The captain cracked a smile at that part. I blushed more.

_Why do I always seem to make a fool of myself in front of important people,_ I thought.

_Because you are weak, _a voice said to me. _Your weakness causes you to falter and look foolish. But fear not, you will not be weak much longer._

"Ichigo," Abarai-taicho turned his attention away from me. "It sounds like this is a slightly bigger problem then I had originally assumed. I need to call back for reinforcements then go help the rest of my squad. Tsumiato, it is now your job to guard Ichigo and Orihime from anymore Hollow attacks. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" I felt an eagerness to be alone with Ichigo without understanding why.

"Renji, I don't need a kid helping me," Ichigo protested.

"Ichigo, since you gave up being a shinigami Soul Society can't take the risk of you being cut down by a Hollow. If you are not going to fight, then I need to place someone with you to make sure that doesn't happen. From what Tsumiato has told me, Orihime still appears willing to fight, so she can help if she needs to." Renji nodded to me and Orihime and looked at Ichigo one last time and then shunpoed away. Ichigo sighed and slumped against the wall of his house. Orihime walked over to him with Sora and hugged him. I stood there feeling foolish and awkward.

"Um… Kurosaki-sama," I started.

"Relax," he said. "I'm not a Soul Society upper-echelon. You don't need to be so formal here. Just call me Ichigo."

I nodded. "Then Ichigo-san, if you don't mind, could you tell me exactly why you gave up being a shinigami? All the stories say that you were a fantastic fighter and couldn't be stopped."

Ichigo's face darkened. "Tsumiato was it?" I nodded. "Come here. Orihime and I will tell you all about the war."


	8. War Stories

"How much do you actually know about the events of the Arrancar War?" Ichigo asked.

"Very little," I replied honestly. "The higher-ups in Soul Society keep the details heavily under wraps. All I know is that the captains defeated the Espada over the fake Karakura Town and forced Aizen back into Hueco Mundo. The Garganta was sealed and Aizen and his forces were locked there. That is what was told to us."

Ichigo looked at me, seemingly disappointed in what I knew. He sighed and turned toward his house.

"Come inside. I need a drink and then I'll tell you the story."

I followed him inside, keeping a constant watch for Hollows, with Orihime close behind me, still playing with Sora. Ichigo led us to the kitchen and pulled out a chair for Orihime. I sat down across from her. Ichigo grabbed a glass of water and sat down next to his wife.

"What do you know of our part in the war?" he asked me, gesturing to himself and Orihime.

"Only that you were instrumental in defeating the Espada in Hueco Mundo and keeping Aizen from escaping when the Garganta was sealed."

Ichigo rubbed his temples. "That's what I thought. Tsumiato, what I am about to tell you is completely true, though it differs from what Soul Society has termed the truth. I was instructed never to mention this to anyone, but given what has been happening I think I must break that oath."

I leaned forward in interest. The call of a Hollow split the air and I jumped to my feet in a flash.

"Settle down, Tsumiato," Ichigo said. "They can't find us here. This house is completely safe."

I sat down, looking confused. "How so?"

"I'll get to that at the end. For now just trust me." Ichigo leaned back and took a long drink. "I guess I should start from the beginning. You know that Orihime was kidnapped by an Espada, right?"

"Yes. Aizen wanted to use her powers to speed up the process of unlocking the Hougyoku."

"Indeed. Then you also know that myself, Ishida Uryuu, and Chad Yasutora went into Hueco Mundo to rescue her. Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji also joined us later."

"Yes sir. The five of you fought against many Espada and defeated them, first with your own strength, then when Kuchiki-taicho, Zaraki-taicho, Unohana-taicho, and Kurotsuchi-taicho came to help. That was all that we were told. No one knows what happened after you rushed back into Las Noches. The captains, along with Abarai-taicho and Kuchiki Rukia-sama fought against the remaining Arrancar."

"Ok, then let me start where your knowledge leaves off…"

* * *

_Ichigo charged down the hall towards Orihime's reiatsu. Without slowing he slashed at the wall in front of him. He exploded through and into the chamber where Orihime stood, Ulquiorra next to her._

_[ "Kurosaki-kun," Orihime whispered._

_"Step away from Inoue," Ichigo growled._

_"That was my intent," Ulquiorra said plainly. "My duty is to protect Las Noches until Aizen-sama returned. I haven't received any orders to kill the girl. This girl will live until I receive that order. But you're another story. Killing you is equivalent to protecting Las Noches." Ulquiorra drew his sword. "I will erase you, with my sword."_

_Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. "Well this is unexpected. I didn't think you'd draw your sword right from the start. I came thinking I'd make you draw your sword, but…" Ichigo's face hardened, "Is it safe to say that you've recognized me as your opponent?"_

_"I'll say this at least," Ulquiorra's voice betrayed no hint of emotion, "I admit that you are a target that should be destroyed."_

_"Good enough," Ichigo said. ]_

_Without warning Ichigo charged. Ulquiorra moved his sword to parry, but at the last second Ichigo shunpoed behind him and slashed downwards. Ulquiorra blocked the strike with his bare arm._

_"Have you forgotten, Kurosaki, your sword cannot-." He stopped mid-sentence as he felt Ichigo's blade slice into his skin. Ulquiorra leapt backwards out of the way as Ichigo's strike finished and cracked into the floor._

_"Heh," Ichigo smirked. "And that was without my Hollow mask."_

_"Don't get arrogant, human. You shan't be so lucky again."_

_This time, Ulquiorra was the one to charge. Ichigo barely brought his sword up in time to block the stroke. The weight of the Espada bore him to the ground. Ichigo grinned again as he shoved upward and felt the pressure lift. His grin was soon wiped away as he felt a Cero blast him full force in the torso. Ichigo flew across the room and bounced twice before regaining control. Ulquiorra stood, deadpan, pointing a finger at him._

_"And that wasn't even a Grand Rey Cero," he said, mocking Ichigo._

_Ichigo stood up and grasped his blade with both hands. "It's time to end this," he said. He leapt into the air and charged his blade. "Gestuuga… TENSHOU!!" he shouted as he slashed his sword. A huge wave of black reiatsu exploded from the tip of his sword and slammed into Ulquiorra. The floor cracked under the immense pressure of the blast and dust and smoke obscured sight. Ichigo landed on the floor and panted heavily. He lost sight of his opponent in the dust, but knew that he couldn't have killed him so easily. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt a sword slash open his back._

_"AAHHH!" he cried in pain. He rolled away from the attack and stood to face Ulquiorra, his own blood dripping from the Espada's blade. Ulquiorra raised his hand and opened his palm towards Ichigo._

_"Grand Rey Cero," he whispered, just barely loud enough for Ichigo to hear._

_A ball of blue-green energy charged in his open palm and flew at Ichigo._

_"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Orihime cried. A triangular shield appeared in front of Ichigo and completely stopped the blast._

_"Inoue…" Ichigo said, surprised._

_Orihime glared at Ulquiorra. "I can't let you hurt Kurosaki-kun anymore."_

_"Oh, so you do have courage. And here I was, thinking that you were a weakling who couldn't stand up for herself," Ulquiorra told her. "I honestly don't know how you think you are going to help him, but you have just sealed your fate. I must now kill both of you."_

_Ichigo jumped up and moved to stand by Orihime. "I'll never let you touch her again," he roared. He held up a hand and summoned his Hollow mask. "Inoue, be careful," his dual voices warbled together eerily. "Let's end this and go home." Orihime nodded and moved back to give Ichigo more room._

_Ichigo charged in once more, faster than before, and faster than Ulquiorra could react. A wide gash appeared on Ulquiorra's shoulder._

_"One for one," Ichigo taunted._

_Ulquiorra turned to face Ichigo. He raised his sword and heared from behind him, "Koten Zanshun, I reject!" A shield flew from Orihime and aimed itself at Ulquiorra's back. He jumped out of the way easily and landed down far to the side. Tsubaki arced back around and attacked him again. Again he dodged, only to find the Ichigo followed him. Ichigo slashed at him again and sliced a neat line along his cheekbone. Blood flowed freely from both wounds and stained his white clothes. Ichigo landed in the middle of the room, Orihime behind him, and Ulquiorra landed in front of Ichigo, backed against a wall. Ichigo stalked towards him, slowly, blocking off all directions of escape. Orihime carefully aimed Tsubaki and was ready to release him in an instant._

_"Ichigo!" the three of them heard a call from the opposite side of the room. Ichigo turned around and saw Rukia running through the hole he'd made. Ulquiorra saw that Ichigo was distracted for an instant and Sonido-ed around him and behind Rukia. He grabbed her and wrenched her arms behind her back with one hand. With the other he put his sword at her throat._

_"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled._

_"Kuchiki-san!"Orihime shouted._

_"Don't move!" Ulquiorra told them. "Take one step and she loses her head. That goes for you too Abarai Renji."_

_Ichigo looked past Ulquiorra and saw that Renji, too, had come down the hall. He looked enraged at Ulquiorra and was ready to attack him._

_"Renji, don't do it. He really will kill her," Ichigo warned._

_Ulquiorra moved around the room, slowly dragging Rukia along with him, away from Orihime. Rukia looked from Ichigo to Renji, her eyes willing them to save her. They were unable to move for fear that Ulquiorra's blade would cut her throat. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands around her sword hilt. She knew that she couldn't swing her sword to hurt him, but there was one thing she could do._

_"Renji, Ichigo," She started._

_"Silence," Ulquiorra order, cutting her neck slightly, drawing a single drop of blood. Rukia inhaled sharply at the touch of the sword._

_"Goodbye my friends," Rukia said._

_"No!" Renji shouted. "RUKIA!!"_

_"Some no mai, Tsukishiro," Rukia whispered. Ulquiorra's eyes widened when he realized what she was doing. He cut deeply into her throat. Rukia fell forward, dead, as blood rushed from her neck. However, it was too late. A column of ice erupted from the ground, engulfing both Ulquiorra and Rukia. Rukia's body was caught midfall and was suspended gruesomely. Ulquiorra's horrified expression was forever frozen inside the ice._

_"RUKIA!!" Renji screamed. He fell to his knees, unable to stand. "Rukia," he whispered._

_A rumble shook the whole of Las Noches. Cracks started appearing in the walls and rumble began to fall._

_"Renji," Ichigo ran over to him, "we need to get out of here. This entire room is going to collapse and crush us all."_

_"Rukia…" Renji was still in a daze. "Rukia…why did you die?"_

_Ichigo grabbed Renji by the front of his clothes._

_"Listen," Ichigo said, trying to catch his attention, "Rukia gave us a chance to escape. Don't let it go to waste. We need to leave. Now!"_

_Renji looked at Ichigo blankly. He moved mechanically, but he walked out of the room. Orihime ran over to Ichigo and they followed Renji out into the open sands of Hueco Mundo…_

* * *

"It was shortly after Rukia's death that Urahara opened the garganta to allow us to escape and then sealed it. However, just before we left I saw Aizen one last time. Despite his failure in Karakura Town, he was smiling. He looked down at me, he saw us leaving, and continued to grin. He didn't care that we had destroyed his forces, or that we stopped him. He let us go. I am quite certain of that. We were in no condition to stop him if he chose to attack us, but he didn't. It was Aizen's will that we leave Hueco Mundo and lock the door. Once we got back to our world, Orihime told me how she felt about me." Ichigo put his arm around his wife and held her close. Orihime leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled. "We lost too many friends during the war. I decided to give up being a substitute shinigami and concentrate on living. Urahara helped out with that. He gave both me and Orihime buttons to conceal our reiatsu. He also helped shield our house. He mixed a special batch of reiatsu blocking paint. While inside this house, no one can sense our presence, and as long as we wear our buttons outside, we are still safe."

"But why would Aizen just let you go?" I asked. "Why not kill you to prevent you from interfering again?"

"Because, he is not worried about interference," a voice said from nowhere. I recognized the voice, yet I had never heard it before.

Both me and Ichigo turned towards the source. Stepping out of a hole in reality came a humanoid form. Orihime gasped. Ichigo's eyes widened. I glared.

"Aizen-sama has no fear of any of you anymore," the being said. He stepped into the light. His pale face showed no emotion, though the green streaks gave a look of constant sadness. His mask, a horned half-helm. His hands rested easily in his pockets.

I growled as Ulquiorra Schiffer walked into Ichigo's kitchen.

* * *

**Story Notes:**

**The section surrounded by the [ ] at the beginning of the flashback was taken directly from Bleach manga 318. I figure I should say that so I can't be accused of copyright infringement or something.**

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

**I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hate me for killing Rukia. I needed something that would make Ichigo give up being a shinigami. Hopefully all you Rukia fans can forgive my horrible horrible indiscretions and will continue to read and (I hope) enjoy the story. :Insert obligatory request for reviews here: That's all for now.**


	9. Battle: Ulquiorra vs Sai

Orihime clutched her child close and backed away from the intruder, her hand going to her mouth. Ichigo moved to stand in front of her protectively.

"Ulquiorra," he said in a low voice. "You should be dead. We stopped you, Rukia gave her life to stop you, and Las Noches collapsed with you still in it."

"You should know by now that it would take more than that ice princess's attacks to kill me. True, I was weakened at the time from the fight with you two so it did freeze me. But there was no way it could possibly kill me."

"Why are you here?" I asked angrily.

"Know your place, child," the Arrancar commanded me. "You have no idea who you are dealing with. You also probably have no idea who you are."

That statement stunned me.

_Who I am? _I thought. _What is that supposed to mean? Does he know something about me that I don't._

I waited for a moment to see if that strange voice would reveal something, but nothing came. I could feel a strange awe coming from within me, an awe combined with a seething hate.

"Ulquiorra, how did you find us?" Ichigo asked. "Urahara told me that we would be safe from being sensed."

"And you were," Ulquiorra's attention shifted back to Ichigo. "Until she forgot to wear her shielding button." He pointed at Orihime. "Regardless, it was not you I followed here. It was him." Ulquiorra turned back to me. "Aizen-sama has need of you. He sent me to bring you back to him."

_Back!_ I thought. _I've never even met him._

"What do you mean back?" I asked, moving slowly away from him. "I've never seen Aizen, let alone been near him."

"So I was right, you have no knowledge of who you are. Good, that makes things easier. It means that you are weak."

The word 'weak' triggered something in me. I couldn't hold back anymore. I yelled as I drew my sword and charged him. The feelings of awe and hatred were replaced with excitement and rage, as if I'd been waiting for this moment for a long time. I slashed down towards his head but he lazily lifted an arm to block my blade.

"You know you can't defeat me," he told me. "Why bother trying. I am to bring you to Aizen-sama alive, though he gave me full permission to use force to get you to come along."

"Sai-kun!" Orihime cried out. "What are you doing? You're no match for him. Just run!"

I looked around the small kitchen and realized that we didn't have a lot of room to fight. I leapt over the table and ran out the back door, knowing that Ulquiorra would follow me. I moved to the center of the backyard and found Ulquiorra standing there, waiting for me.

"Did you really think you could escape me?"

"Nope," I told him. "But it was too cramped in there to fight properly." I didn't know where the words were coming from. Every logical fiber of my being was yelling at me to escape and inform the captain. Despite that, I knew that I wanted this fight. I didn't know why I wanted it, but I did. Again I charged at Ulquiorra. I swung my sword at his side. He moved his hand to catch the blade, but at the last second I turned it downward. My sword struck his leg in the thigh with all my strength behind it. I looked at him and grinned. He merely looked down at his leg. I followed his gaze and saw that my sword had not even make a mark on him. Suddenly he disappeared.

_**Move now! **_the strange voice yelled at me.

Without pausing to think I dove forward in a roll. I heard the _whoosh_ of a sword swing down where I had just been moments ago. I turned back to look at the Arrancar. He had an amazed look on his face.

"How did you dodge that strike? It should have been faster than you could sense. Perhaps you do know more than you are letting on."

"I don't know what you are talking about, but maybe your just not as fast as you think," my retort stopped when he disappeared from my sight again.

"Is that so," I heard his voice from behind me. I was already diving to one side, spurred on my some unknown instinct. I ended my roll with an upward slash to my side. I began the slash with no target, but Ulquiorra appeared directly in the path of my sword just in time to get hit in the chest. He jumped back, surprised but unwounded.

"This is impossible," Ulquiorra muttered. "I shall have to end this quickly."

He held out his hand and charged a Cero, aimed directly at me.

"No," I whispered. I shunpoed up into the air. He followed me with his hand. I tried to dodge around but wherever I went, he was already aiming at me. I stopped at last, directly above him. The corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards. He released his Cero.

I had no time to dodge. All I could was hold up my sword and attempt to lessen the impact. The enormous energy blast hit me dead center, knocking my feeble defense away and scorching my body. I screamed, but no sound came from my mouth.

_Help me!_ I pleaded silently.

_**Help you? **_the strange voice responded. _**I have been helping you. How do you think you dodged all those attacks? However, you decided to get to close to him as he attacked. It was your decision to lead us into the mess. How do you expect me to help you now?**_

I started falling to the ground. I heard someone shout something and felt myself slow down and start drifting. I looked up weakly and saw that Orihime had caught me with her shield. I was moving away from Ulquiorra slowly. He merely stood there watching me. I landed softly on the ground. Orhime was running over to me to heal me but was stopped by Ichigo. They had a swift discussion that I couldn't hear.

_I know you hate them,_ I thought to the voice, attempting a difference tactic. _Both Ichigo and Ulquiorra. I can feel it whenever their names are mentioned. I can feel it now, looking at them. Help me kill Ulquiorra._

_**Kill Ulquiorra? You? **_the voice laughed at me. _**It's gonna take a hell of a lot more time and effort to get me to give you that much power. But for now, lets put some doubt into his mind. He wants me back, he wants us to go with him. Lets give him his answer. Stand, my vessel. Stand and receive my power.**_

I struggled to my feet. I stared defiantly at Ulquiorra as my legs wobbled under the effort. I stood straight and tall, willing my body back to strength. I took my sword in hand and charged Ulquiorra and shouted. Ulquiorra's eyes grew wide in triumph. I heard Orihime gasp from behind me. I heard Ichigo whisper "Impossible!" I released my Zanpakuto.

"Rend….. GRIMMJOW!!!"


	10. Secrets Revealed

****

Sorry about the missed update last week. A slight case of writer's block combined with being generally busy prevented me from finishing the chapter how I wanted. I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

I was enveloped by a blue-white light. I couldn't see anything, but I could still feel. I could feel the gifts that the release had bestowed upon me. I could feel the speed. I could feel the agility. But most of all, I could feel the power.

I veritably flew out of the light. My katana had disappeared. In its place, strapped onto my forearms, was a pair of wrist claws. My eyes were locked in on Ulquiorra. I could see nothing but my target, all else was blocked out. I approached him faster than I thought possible, but I knew I had the reflexes to handle the speed. I slashed my wicked blades at his sides. His eyes widened at the sudden ferocity behind my attacks. He blocked one claw with his arm and managed to draw his sword to parry the other attack.

I grinned as my attacks landed. He shoved back, leaping away and throwing me back. I landed in an almost feral crouch. I looked up at him and saw that he was staring at his arm. The arm he had blocked with had three bloody scratches across it. It was a minor wound, causing no real damage, but I had drawn blood.

Ulquiorra looked up at me from his bloodied arm and narrowed his eyes.

"You're happy about this, aren't you?" he asked me.

"I've proven that I can wound you," I retorted, fully overconfident in my strength. "That's one small step from being able to kill you."

"You honestly believe that a weakling like you could kill me? Child, do you know who I am? I am… well I was Espada number 4, Ulquiorra Schiffer. I am now the sole survivor of Aizen Sosuke-sama's Arrancar force. Where all others have perished, I survived. I even outlived that pitiful soul that grants you power right now. I am not even fighting at what was my full power ten years ago. And since that time, I have grown even stronger."

Once again, Ulquiorra held out his hand. He began charging his energy, concentrating it to his palm. I recognized the beginnings of another Cero. I dodged into the air again, thinking that I could avoid the blast with more room. Ulquiorra released the energy in a single, gigantic blast. As the last possible second I shunpoed out of the way. I smirked, believing that Ulquiorra had missed. I charged downwards toward him.

_**Look out, you fool!**_ GrimmJow's voice screamed in my head.

I stopped in mid-air and looked behind me. Ulquiorra's Cero did not disappear as I had expected. Instead it stopped just behind where I was. Before my eyes it began to shatter into millions of tiny spheres of energy. Those spheres sped towards me, all in different positions and at different rates and times. I tried my best but I couldn't dodge all of them. Each time I got hit, it felt like I had been hit by the full power Cero from before. I fell to the ground and landed hard. Ulquiorra walked over to stand above me.

"My orders were to bring you back to Aizen-sama. I also have orders not to kill you. However, Aizen-sama did not foresee contact between you and GrimmJow. Consider yourself lucky, child. I leave now only to get further instructions. But know that I will be back, either to take you to _our _master," I did not miss the emphasis he place on the word 'our', "or to kill you. Farewell."

Ulquiorra opened a hole in reality and stepped through without looking back. I struggled to sit up and reach for him, not sure what I would do even if I could reach him. My strength finally gave out and I fell back to the ground looking up at the sky. My zanpakuto resealed itself as I drifted into unconsciousness…

* * *

I awoke back in the strange desert. I looked around for any sign of life. I saw the familiar boulder, but no one was sitting on it. I walked over to it and hoisted myself up. To my surprise, there was a fairly comfortable spot to relax in, almost as if the stone had been formed like a chair. I sat down and waited, knowing it was only a matter of time.

"HEY!" I heard a shout from behind me. I sat up and looked, sure enough there was the familiar figure walking towards me, the panther by his side. I prepared myself for another confrontation with my Zanpakuto spirit.

GrimmJow quickly came up to stand in front of me.

"What the hell do you think you were doing out there?" he screamed in my face. I recoiled slightly at the fierceness of his assault. "Did you honestly want us to die? I told you, he told you, that you were not strong enough to kill him. Yet you get the smallest taste of power and you suddenly become all confident that you can kill anyone. For fucks sake, you remind me of that damned Kurosaki!" GrimmJow continued ranting as he paced back and forth.

I jumped down from my perch and stood in front of GrimmJow. "Well that's why you chose me, isn't it? That's why you decided to help me, my desire for strength. You've saw everything I saw while I was in the Shinigami Academy. You have seen everything since. Every position of power, coveted. Every person of strength, envied. You too know these feelings. We are kindred spirits."

GrimmJow suddenly turned and slammed me against the rock.

"Don't ever compare us again," he hissed at me. "You are currently nothing compared to what I was."

"What you were?" I asked breathlessly. "Ulquiorra mentioned something about that too. What were you?"

"I was Espada number 6, GrimmJow Jeagerjaques."

"An Arrancar?" I gasped. "Then how did you end up as my Zanpakuto spirit?"

"Damn, are all humans so curious?" he shrugged in submission. "Sit and I'll explain. I lay dying on the sands of Hueco Mundo. It looked much like this does," he gestured around to the desert. "That's partly why your inner world looks like this, I did some redecorating." He smirked. "I was dead, I knew that much, but there was no way I was going to give up. So, much like I did when I became an Adjuchas, I kept hold of myself and attached my spirit energy to yours as your soul moved on to Soul Society."

"Hmph," a voice said from behind him. "That's a load of bull and you know it." The panther walked around and lay down next to GrimmJow. "You were ready to lay back and die. You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

"Shut up you stupid cat," GrimmJow swatted at him, but the panther dodged easily.

"So what, or who, is this?" I asked.

"I am Pantera," the panther told me. "I was the source of GrimmJow's strength when he became an Arrancar. You could say that I was _his_ Zanpakuto spirit."

"So what are you doing here now?"

"That is something I'll leave you to puzzle out."

I started to say more but my vision began to dim. I fought to keep conscious, but to no avail. I blacked out…

* * *

… and awoke to concerned voiced talking over me. I opened my eyes to see Ichigo, Orihime, Mitaro, and Abarai-taicho standing around discussing what happened.

"Then Sai attacked Ulquiorra, apparently trying to protect us from him," Ichigo explained. "Though Ulquiorra had made it clear that it was Sai he was after, for some reason."

Orihime opened her mouth to say something, but Ichigo silenced her.

"He was after me because of my Zanpakuto spirit," I clarified, sitting up in the Kurosaki's kitchen.

Ichigo groaned quietly and put a hand over his face. "Sai, I was trying to avoid mentioning that bit of information about you. I don't know how well that will go over in Soul Society."

"What information?" Abarai-taicho asked. "What's so special about Sai's Zanpakuto spirit?"

"It's an ex-Espada, sir," I replied. "He apparently died during the war and connected his spirit energy to mine as I traveled to Soul Society."

"Damn," the captain muttered. "As if things weren't complicated enough."

"Sir, I don't know what Aizen is planning, but he wants me to join him. Whatever he is doing, it must be big. He's trying to gather an army. We need to get this information to Soul Society."

"Agreed. Ichigo, Orihime, sorry to barge in on you again like this. Mitaro, Sai, we need to get going. Another squad will come down to replace you. Find Sanosuke and get back to Soul Society."

"Yes sir!" Mitaro and I both saluted and left the house.


	11. Into the 1st Barracks

**I would like to start today's chapter by thanking all of my readers for sticking with this story. I hope everyone is enjoying it. I also give a thank you to all of my reviewers. Please keep it up. I like hearing what you guys think of my story.**

* * *

Mitaro and I found Sanosuke a short while later. He was battle three Hollows at the same time. We didn't see him at first, we only heard his howls and shouts of joy. He had always liked being in a good fight. We ran in and quickly dispatched two of the Hollows. He looked at us, disappointed that we decided to help him. After he defeated the third he walked to tower above us.

"What the hell guys?" he whined. "I was having fun until you decided to step in a ruin it."

"Quiet Sanosuke," Mitaro ordered. "We've got big problems and need to get back to Soul Society." Sanosuke quieted at Mitaro's imperious voice. He automatically stood at attention and waited for further orders. Mitaro looked him up and down. "It's good to see you can show respect to me, despite our friendship. I'll explain everything back at the barracks." Sanosuke and I followed silently as Mitaro opened the doorway back to Soul Society.

A quick trip through the border world and a run through the Seireitei and we were back in the 3rd division barracks. Mitaro led us into a debriefing room and sat down at the table. Sanosuke and I followed in suit and waited for Mitaro to speak. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Sai," Mitaro suddenly started the meeting. "Tell us what happened. Leave nothing out. Any detail may be important."

I was slightly taken aback by the seriousness in Mitaro's voice. _Is this truly the same fun-loving genius I knew in the academy? _I thought to myself.

Sanosuke had similar thoughts, though he decided to voice them out loud.

"Hashibara, what's going on? Why are you being so serious all of a sudden? You've gotten so 'authority figure' on us."

"Abarai-taicho reminded me of my responsibilities after today's adventures. Guys, we can't always be the same jokers we were in the academy. It's time to grow up. I realized this when I fought that Hollow a few weeks ago and again today. Both of those times, lives were in danger. Our decisions put those lives in danger. We need to accept the consequences, good or bad as they may be. Now, Sai, please explain what happened."

I stood and faced my friends and comrades. I related the day's events, not leaving out any single detail, however minute. I started from rescuing Orihime, and being subsequently rescued by her, to Ulquiorra's intrusion, to discovering the identity of my Zanpakuto. It took a while but neither of them interrupted once. When I finished I sat back down and waited.

Sanosuke stared at me, mouth hanging open. For a second, I believed he had forgotten how to speak. Mitaro nodded, having heard some of this before hand and stoically taking what he didn't know. I sat down and stared at the table, trying to determine what was going to happen to us next.

A loud bang made the three of us jump out of our reveries.

"Hashibara Mitaro, Tsumiato Sai, Akage Sanosuke!" a commanding voice shouted. We looked towards the door to see Abarai-taicho standing there. "Come with me."

He stared at us for a moment longer then whirled and left. We scrambled out of our chairs and jogged after the retreating form of the captain. We followed him through the twisting corridors of the Seireitei. I was amazed at how easily our captain could navigate, unerringly, to his destination. It wasn't until he stopped did I realize where we were. The three of us stood outside the 1st division barracks.

Abarai-taicho turned towards us. "You three, this is very serious. I had to call an emergency meeting of the captains of the Gotei 13. You are going to be present for this meeting. You may or may not be called upon for your story. Under no circumstances are you to speak before you are spoken to and only answer the question asked. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!"

Without another word he turned towards the door and knocked once, loudly. The door opened enough for us to pass through and then slammed shut as soon as we had crossed the threshold. The members of the 1st division, the elite of the shinigami, stood at attention as we passed by them on the way to the captain's meeting hall. Abarai-taicho gave them no notice, but Mitaro, Sanosuke, and I glanced around warily, never having been in the presence of such figures before.

We reached the end of the hall and two shinigami open the large doors for us and bowed. Abarai-taicho nodded to them and entered the room. We hurried passed and the doors shut quietly behind us. For the first time ever, I stared at the assembled majesty of all thirteen captains of the Gotei 13.

Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni, captain of the 1st squad and commander of the Gotei 13 stood at the head of the column.

Soi Fon, captain of the 2nd squad and head of the special corps, stood to his right. The space across form her was vacant, waiting for Abarai-taicho to fill it.

Unohana Retsu, captain of the 4th division, stood waiting patiently next to Soi Fon.

Across from her, the captain of the 5th division stood. Promoted at the same time as Abarai-taicho, Madarame Ikkaku stood looking uncomfortable, and what appeared to be unhappy, in his captain's haori.

Kuchiki Byakuya, captain of the 6th division, looked at us from his spot on the floor, his normally stoic face should the slightest, almost imperceptible, amount of pride with Abarai-taicho.

Komamura Sajin, captain of the 7th division, stared straight ahead, looking over Kuchiki-taicho's head. His canine features were set in a hard glare.

Kyouraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th division, lazily looked in our direction. His white captain's haori covered, as always, with his pink flower-patterned kimono and his straw hat tilted to one side. He smiled around a piece of straw poking out of the side of his mouth when we entered.

The 9th division captain also looked at us. His eyes were set in a stare but were not glaring. Hisagi Shuuhei stood, looking like he was meant to be a captain all his life.

Hitsugaya Toushiro, captain of the 10th division, stood next to Komamura-taicho. Next to the giant, Histugaya-taicho looked even shorter than he really did. His face, ever serious, stared at the Yamamoto-soutaicho waiting for the meeting to start.

Zaraki Kenpachi, captain of the 11th squad, stood across from Histugaya-taicho. His eyes roamed the hall, seemingly in boredom. His giant form constantly shifted, ever so slightly, as if he hated standing still.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri, captain of the 12th squad and head of the Research and Development in Soul Society, stood silently. His eyes, like Zaraki-taicho's, were roaming over the room. His eyes, however, were calculating, taking in everything about the people around him and planning some new scheme.

The captaincy of the 13th division was still vacant. The former captain, Ukitake Juushiro, fell during the Arrancar war and no replacement had yet to be named. Because of this, the new lieutenant Arucho Danzu stood in the spot. Arucho-fukutaicho stood tall, almost as tall as Zaraki-taicho. He kept his red hair cut short and spiked up. His piercing gaze swept past Abarai-taicho and fell on me, as if he could see everything about me. Instead of keeping his Zanpakuto attached to his hip, he held it by the end of the scabbard over one should and across his back, the hilt sticking out past his far shoulder.

Abarai-taicho motioned for us to follow him as he walked quickly down the aisle of captains to his place. The three of us stood quietly behind him, wondering what would take place. We didn't have to wonder long. As soon as Abarai-taicho was in place, Yamamoto-soutaicho banged his cane on the floor to gather attention.

"We will now start the meeting!"

* * *

**Ok, I know this chapter was kind of boring. I needed to reintroduce the captains and introduce the new ones to you guys. I'll do my best to make the next chapters more interesting, and hopefully more exciting.**


	12. The Captain's Meeting

Yamamoto-soutaicho's announcement seemed to have no visual change in the room. The captains still stood in their two straight lines. But there was a change. A seemingly palpable aura of seriousness descended over the room. No one spoke for a few moments. Then, as if responding to an unseen signal, Yamamoto-soutaicho said, "Hisagi-taicho, you may speak."

Hisagi-taicho stepped forward and turned towards the head of the line, speaking to Yamamoto-soutaicho but addressing the entire hall.

"We have all heard the reports given to us by Abarai-taicho. However, I still do not understand what a mere hollow invasion has to do with Aizen's plans. All we have is the fact that a member of the 3rd division, a member who is present today, claims that an ex-Espada appeared. He further claims that he and the Espada fought. Having fought Arrancar myself during the war, I can safely say that anyone of below lieutenant level could not survive an encounter with one of those monsters. I do not mean to say that he is lying to us, merely that he may be mistaking what he saw."

"True," Unohana-taicho spoke. "We all know the Arrancar to be powerful and the Espada to be particularly so. However, according to the young man's story the Espada was ordered not to kill him. If this story were just brought to us by this young man I would agree that there may be some mistaking the creature, but these words come to us from Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Orihime, both of whom are known to us and who know the creature that Tsumiato Sai did battle with."

"Urahara-san did mention something about protecting Ichigo and Orihime as well as their newborn child. Perhaps the increase in Hollow incursions is an attempt to flush them out," Hitsugaya-taicho postulated.

"Perhaps," Kuchiki-taicho said. "But that still does not explain why the Espada was searching for a member of the Gotei 13."

I stiffened slightly. Apparently Abarai-taicho had not informed the rest of the captains about my Zanpakuto. Perhaps he considered it none of their business what others' Zanpukto spirits were. Perhaps, and I was hoping it was this option, he did it to protect me.

Mitaro felt my slight movement next to him and glanced over. He gave a small, reassuring smile as the discussion continued.

"Renji," Hisagi-taicho spoke again. "Are you sure Ichigo made no mention of motives behind the attack?"

"Yes, Shuuhei. Ichigo said nothing about why the Espada was hunting my subordinate."

Abarai-taicho's small stress on 'Ichigo' was barely noticeable. Apparently he _was_ trying to protect me from the scrutiny of the captains.

"Who cares why?" Zaraki-taicho's deep voice rumbled. "Why don't we just go down and visit Aizen again. We can ask him ourself. If he decided not to answer us, maybe he'll tell my sword!"

"Do you truly think that you can threaten Aizen in Hueco Mundo?" Kuchiki-taicho asked. "That is his seat of power. Who knows how much of his army he has rebuilt in the last ten years. Though, Zaraki, by all means travel down there yourself. If you happen to survive, you can tell us what information you got out of him."

"You doubt me Kuchiki?" Zaraki-taicho growled. "I'll go down there, right after I show you what'll happen to Aizen!" Zaraki-taicho grabbed his sword and started pulling it out. Kuchiki-taicho moved to draw his sword as well. I saw Unohana-taicho start to cast a kidou to bind them both when a voice rang out from the end of the hall.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Everyone just chill a little." Arucho-fukutaicho stepped forward to be heard. "Now, I know I'm not a captain and I'm just here to fill in, but I'd like to have my say. First of all, Byakuya, Kenpachi put your blades away."

"Why you-!" Zaraki-taicho turned his anger towards the new speaker. Arucho-fukutaicho merely stared and Zaraki-taicho. The captain stopped dead in his tracks, as if spellbound by the eyes of the lieutenant in front of him. All the energy seemed to drain from his body as he sheathed his sword and stepped back into line. Kuchiki-taicho glared at the brash lieutenant but also sheathed his sword.

"That's a little better. It seems to me that the biggest problem here is mystery. We don't know enough to make any decision at all, except that we need more information. I don't doubt the good 3rd division captain's words when he says that Kurosaki-san didn't tell him anything, but I'd gather he knows more than he's lettin' on. Call it a hunch, by I think he's hiding something from the rest of us."

The room went silent at the implied accusation. Arucho-fukutaicho smiled at Abarai-taicho. I could see that my captain was sweating slightly under the pressure. Suddenly, all of the captains started talking at once. Some were trying to get Abarai-taicho to tell us the rest while others were defending him. Yamamoto-soutaicho looked at the squabbling captains and then directly at me. His wizened eyes started straight into mine, as if discerning every secret about me. He pulled his gaze away and rapped the floor with his cane again.

"I believe our visitor would like to say something."

Abarai-taicho looked back at me, surprised. I gulped and stepped to stand in front of him. I wasn't sure where to look or how to speak. On impulse I started walking up the aisle of captains, looking each one in the eye as I passed, all my energy spent of not trembling beneath their gazes. I reached the end of the line and turned back to face Yamamoto-soutaicho.

I took a deep breath and spoke. "Abarai-taicho is telling the truth when he says that he doesn't know why the Espada was after me. In truth, I only understand part of it. Only Ichigo-sama, Orihime-san, and I were present when the Espada revealed it. I have since confirmed it. Aizen _is_ after me. He may be after others to, but I don't know for sure."

"Would you get on with it?" Madarme-taicho said. "We don't have all day to listen to your prattle."

"Ikkaku, relax," Kyoraku-taicho said. "He's just trying to explain it all. And I'm sure this is the first time he's ever addressed any captain beyond his own."

I breathed deeply, thankful for the short reprieve, even though it was for a captain to berate me. I continued. "My Zanpakuto spirit once was an Espada under Aizen Sosuke."

That pronouncement brought an eerie silence to the room. I could see looks of shock on some of the captains' faces and disbelief on others.

"Impossible," Soi-fon-taicho replied simply.

"Boy," Kurotsuchi-taicho looked at me. "Do you know what exactly happens to a Hollow, Arrancar or otherwise, when it is slain by a zanpakuto?"

I faltered under his glare, my courage drained by his look.

"The spirit particles return to Soul Society and wait to be reincarnated," I stammered. "I understand that this is unusual and unbelievable, but you must here me out."

"Tch, I think this child has gone insane. Possibly a remnant of a condition he had when he was human. Perhaps, if I have the consent of the assembled captains, could I perhaps study him some?"

Abarai-taicho stepped forward. "Kurotsuchi-taicho, you know that it is against our laws to experiment on another shinigami. As for his story, it is all true except for one thing. I did know about his Zanpakuto spirit. I was merely trying to protect him from scrutiny and mockery. I appreciate him sticking with my story, but I must tell the truth now. I believe him about his Zanpakuto spirit. According to Ichigo, who was there when Sai released his sword, it shares a name with one of the Espada. I do not know if this was mere coincidence, but Ichigo thoroughly believed it to be the same being."

"Tsumiato Sai," Yamamoto-soutaicho addressed me again, "what is the name of your Zanpakuto spirit?"

"GrimmJow," I whispered. "He says when he was an Arrancar he was Espada number 6 GrimmJow Jeagerjaques."

"Whether or not this story is true, Aizen definetly seems to be after this young man," the commander stated. "We must find out the true meanings behind these omens. I hereby order a strike team to travel to Hueco Mundo and observe what is happening there. Do not engage anyone unless strictly necessary, and by no means engage Aizen, Ichimaru, and Kaname. Orders shall be sent shortly by way of hell butterfly. Dismissed!"


End file.
